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Joe “the skunk” calls off wedding, but Delta Air Lines saves the day

April 27, 2009

It had all the makings of an unsolvable case. It involved a canceled wedding, nonrefundable tickets and an airline that refuses to answer my e-mails. But never say never.

Sandra Castiglia explains.

Last year, my daughter booked nonrefundable honeymoon flights for herself and her then-fiance on Delta Air Lines, putting the charges for both tickets on her own credit card. Not very smart of her.

Now, Joe a.k.a. “the skunk” has called off the wedding, and my daughter is not only heartbroken, but out some $450 for Joe’s ticket.

A very nice Delta agent split the two itineraries at my request, issuing a credit for a future flight for my daughter, less a $100 change fee, which we were happy to pay.

Joe’s ticket was a little more complicated. They tried to sell the ticket back to him. No luck.

They asked Delta to re-issue the ticket to Castiglia’s daughter, but it didn’t respond to her written request.

Could I help?

Well, yes and no.

Delta has refused to acknowledge my inquiries lately. I’ve tried to contact several people at the airline, but they seem to have gone into radio silence. I don’t know why. (If it’s an attempt to reduce the number of times I write about Delta, you can see how well that’s working.)

I suggested Castiglia send a brief, polite e-mail to a customer service manager at Delta.

While Delta doesn’t answer any of my e-mails — even its media relations department, which is supposed to field queries from journalists — its customer service executives promptly respond to inquiries from aggrieved passengers. I’m told that mentioning my name is often helpful.

It apparently was this time. Last week, I heard back from Castiglia.

I received a call from a Delta agent, who changed the name on the ticket, and gave her a credit for a future Delta flight. Keep up the good work!

Nice job, Delta. You waived one of your least flexible rules in order to help a jilted bride. Maybe you do have a heart.

If Delta wants to give me the cold shoulder, I’m fine with that. As long as it takes care of its customers.

Update (10:16 a.m.): Delta has responded. A spokeswoman acknowledged another e-mail that I had sent last week and suggested that I follow up to future inquiries with a call. “A phone call with an e-mail follow-up is always the best way to reach us,” she added.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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13 comments

  • mindy

    wow.. cold shoulder to the Travel troubleshooter? What kind of Media Relations department are those people running down there?

  • Mike

    No offense, but if the daughter is only out $450 instead of what could have happened if the wedding had gone through or if she had been on the steps reciting vows consider it a great deal. $450 is a lot of money to me, but I’m sure a lot of people would jump at the chance to ditch a memory of someone for $450.

    Glad that the airline came through in the end though. (not good that their public relations dept stinks -are they the skunks?)

  • http://www.singleparenttravel.net John F

    Come on Chris—you didn’t think all vestiges of Northwest would be lost in this merger now did you?

  • J

    Well, I have a similar situation and my mom was concerned about what I was out for the honeymoon (since I just started working, etc) though she is out $28,000 (which she is trying to negotiate back, or at least apply to other events), so maybe a lot more money went into this than just the tickets, but it is nice to still get to have a vacation, especially given the heart break.

  • http://www.debohobo.com Debo Hobo

    Plain and simple “Joe” should have manned up and ponied up the $450 back to the jilted wonder No one should have even gotten Delta involved in the first place, it was not their fault she couldn’t close the deal…..

    Sometimes we actually do have to live with the decisions we make in life even the lousy ones.

  • Jen

    Off topic, but Debo, you’re saying that it’s the bride (aka woman)’s fault that she couldn’t get him to 100% commit, resulting in him ditching her? I vote it was his idiotic self’s fault for calling off the wedding, not hers.

  • Aaron Gold

    Good on Delta, but I agree with Debo, Joe should have paid for the tickets. What a slimeball. Sure hope Sandra’s daughter sees how lucky she was to get dumped by this clown.

  • Chicky

    Right on, Aaron. She’s waaay better off without a tightwad cheapskate who wouldn’t even give her the $450 back. It may take her a little while to realize it, but she is. Still, Delta did a nice thing and that means a lot.

  • David Z

    you’re saying that it’s the bride (aka woman)’s fault that she couldn’t get him to 100% commit, resulting in him ditching her?

    That’s a rather easy conclusion to make, but one that none are required to reach or agree with. Sometimes we make lousy choices we ought to live with, sometimes we at least try to make the best of a bad situation.

    Unfortunately for Delta this rather opens up the possibility of being hounded with similar requests by other people in similar plights. But…that’s something they ought to live with.

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  • Joe Farrell

    Hey Debo, I had a fiance abscond with a $2k wedding ring when our wedding did not happen – no ‘offer’ of giving it back, so slimy behavior is not limited to only one of the sexes!

    This one is funny -= an email and THEN a phone call. Who do you call? Reservations? hahahahaha

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  • FL Traveler

    Nice to hear Delta isn’t totally heartless. Two years ago, a family wedding was cancelled 2 months before the date due to a heath issue (bride). I was left with 2 rather expensive tickets to Texas and they absolutely refused to budge on their refund/credit problem. In one set of correspondence, they said the “might” rereview the case if I sent medical documentation. Right! Family or no, it would have been in poor tast (for lack of better words) to ask (and further distress) the bride for such “evidence.” Because of the lack of empathy on the part of Delta, I have not flown them since. They won’t go out of business as a result but it has made me feel somewhat better. If all goes well, there will be a fall, 2011 wedding.

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